180,000-Square-Foot Manufacturing Facility Will Produce OptimusZ Mowers and More
We enjoy seeing companies bringing their manufacturing back to America. One such company is Greenworks Commercial, which just expanded its operations after opening a facility in Morristown, Tennessee. The 180,000-square-foot “Commercial Center of Excellence for Manufacturing and Engineering” represents the company’s first North American manufacturing center.
Greenworks Commercial invested more than $25 million into the opening of this facility. The company plans to focus on manufacturing both commercial and residential battery-powered zero-turn and ride-on lawn mowers. The OptimusZ electric zero-turn mower is slated for production alongside Greenworks’ other residential ZT mowers.
Production Capabilities and Capacity
In 2023, Greenworks Commercial plans to produce around 30,000 ride-on mowers. By 2025, the company will increase that number to 80,000 ride-on mowers, as well as introduce batteries and other products.
What does that mean in terms of employment? Greenworks tells us the new Morristown facility will create over 150 high-tech careers by the end of 2023. By the end of 2025, Expansion plans raise that number to 550 jobs.
Two Assembly Lines with AGVs (Automated Guided Vehicles)
The Morristown manufacturing facility includes two AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle) assembly lines. One line produces the OptimusZ ZT mower, while the other line handles Greenworks’ consumer zero-turn and lawn tractors.
Robotic Chassis Welding
This Greenworks plant also includes a fully robotic vehicle chassis welding center. Inside, you can observe up to 7 fully-robotic welding stations through safety glass. Take note of the Lincoln welders behind the arms!
Greenworks Commercial also uses an additional 5 robotic welders to produce the mowing decks.
Laser Cutting, Bending, and Powder-Coating
Along with robotic welding, this facility features high-precision tube and sheet metal laser cutting, stamping, and CNC tube-bending equipment that they use for major components. Later in 2023, they expect to add an e-coating (powder-coating) line, too.
Final Inspection and Color-Matching
Greenworks Commercial uses a sophisticated computer and Dyno system for final inspection. It checks to make sure the motors and gearing are ready for consumers.
There’s also a light tunnel that allows for visual inspection of the paint and final components before the products get packaged and shipped.
Planned Late-2023 and 2024 Expansion
Starting in 2023 and continuing throughout 2024 Greenworks Commercial tells us they anticipate several exciting developments for the Morristown Manufacturing Facility and Plant. There’s an exterior bumper and track test facility in the works, which makes us wonder how long it will take to bring UTVs into the mix.
Greenworks also expects to complete and implement the following:
- Automated assembly lines for their large commercial-grade battery modules and smaller battery packs suitable for use with their commercial handheld and walk-behind products
- Installation of the e-coating workshop and a plastic injection molding center
- Manufacturing of commercial walk-behind mowers
- A parts and service warehouse
By the end of 2023, Greenworks Commercial hopes to see up to 100 OptimusZ mowers manufactured per day at this plant. They also told us that they intend to begin manufacturing the OptimusAI mower, which is a fully autonomous, self-driving commercial zero-turn mower built on the OptimusZ platform. It will feature GPS-RTK navigation, as well as live-object avoidance technology. In autonomous mode, the mower is accurate down to one inch.
We even got to witness a sneak peek of the Greenworks OptimusMC mobile power station trailer , however, we don’t have a firm commitment on the details of its manufacturing process at the time of writing.
Morristown as a Technology and Engineering Leadership Hub
The Morristown, Tennessee facility will also serve as the home of the North American Center for Advanced Vehicle Engineering, part of the Greenworks corporate group. It will employ over a dozen mechanical, electrical, and testing engineers by the end of 2023. The engineering team in the U.S. works with the Greenworks Research and Development campus in Changzhou, China as well as its Autonomous and Robotics R&D Center in Jönköping, Sweden.
For more information, visit the Greenworks Commercial website .